Myth: if you eat well, you don’t need a supplement

March 31, 2012

Yes, you read that correctly.

I’d say that 99% of the time I agree wholeheartedly with the nutritional advice promoted by Dietitians of Canada, but once in a while, and in particular where it comes to supplementation, I’m afraid I have to dissent.

Today I’ll discuss two specific issues regarding the need for supplements, one involving vitamin D in specific, and then multivitamins in general.

First vitamin D. Vitamin D has been a hot topic in the news lately, and for good reason. Countless studies are currently linking low vitamin D levels to autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, and type 1 diabetes; and also to Parkinson’s disease, several types of cancers, depression, and a host of other illnesses.

Some foods have naturally occurring Vitamin D, specifically fish, liver and egg yolks. Other sources include fortified foods, such as milk and margarine. So really, not too many dietary sources exist. Our bodies are designed to make vitamin D ourselves when our skin is exposed to UV from sunlight. Unfortunately, here in Canada, from October to March the sun’s rays are so weak that the UV index all winter is zero. That means that nobody in Canada is making any Vitamin D for six months of the year. All winter long we’re just using up any extra vitamin D that we stored up during the summer. Wore sunscreen all summer? Or have dark skin? (natural sunscreen) Then you weren’t making very much then, either.

One large study at the University of Kansas found that 70% of patients were deficient in Vitamin D. That’s in Kansas…given our latitude, one can’t expect Canadians to be any better.

So what is Health Canada’s response? Well, they’ve upped their recommended daily intake levels a little bit for everyone. Where it used to be 400IU a day for adults, it is now 600IU. Are they recommending additional fortified foods? No. Are they suggesting everyone take a supplement. No…just a few select groups. And Dietitians of Canada followed suit. Very cautious, but in this case, I believe too much so.

Thankfully, health professionals are, individually, moving forward on this. All the doctors I know (and I know a lot!) are recommending supplementation of 1000-2000IU for everyone daily. I’m glad someone is.

And now multivitamins in general. I’ll have to admit that until a few months ago, I strongly believed, as most dietitians do, that as long as you were eating a healthy diet, and there weren’t any extenuating circumstances, you should be able to get all the nutrition you need from food. You shouldn’t have any need to supplement. That was until my husband and I were introduced to a really good multivitamin. (There’s a story as to why I even bothered to try a multivitamin in the first place, but the post is already getting long…it will wait for another day.) In a matter of days, I felt my energy level improve. I didn’t even realize that I had any problem with energy until it got better. I was no longer groggy when I woke up in the morning. I no longer felt sleepy on my drive home from work. For my husband, the changes were far more dramatic…he went from being a regular napper to someone who no longer naps at all.

Now I’m convinced that everyone needs a multivitamin. A good one. Why? Because I have a very good diet. I have the diet that I have always taught my clients to eat so they would not need a supplement. I’m a vegetarian. I typically eat 7-10 servings of fruits and vegetables daily. Mostly whole grains. Minimal sweets and fatty foods. I don’t expect many people to eat as well or better than me. But if I found that I feel better on a supplement, then that means that I was sub-optimal without it. So realistically, who eats the optimal diet? My guess is no one.

In fact, I’m no longer convinced that we can eat the “optimal” diet anymore. Maybe we could 50 years ago, but things have changed. Cheap farming practices means soil quality is not as good as it once was; if the nutrients aren’t in the soil to begin with, then they won’t be in our food, and they won’t be in us. There is more pollution; more toxins in the air mean more work for our bodies to fight them off, and a greater need for vitamins and other anti-oxidants. Whatever the reason, a balanced diet alone just isn’t cutting it. We need to supplement. It’s important and you’ll feel so much better for it.

The supplement market is a minefield…next week I’ll post on how to choose a good one.

By Renu Arora August 26, 2025
The Move That Broke Me (Literally) For the past several weeks (months!) I have been in the process of moving houses. OMG! The longer you live in one place, the more “stuff” piles up. I quickly discovered that purging under a deadline is exhausting! My advice? Do yourself a huge favor: let go of anything you haven’t used in years. Clearing clutter isn’t just good for your home, you'll feel emotionally lighter, too. Decluttering aside, after a big day of moving furniture and all the other heavy or bulky things that required a truck, every muscle in my body was sore. My back, legs, arms—even my wrist—were screaming in pain. Climbing one flight of stairs felt like scaling the CN Tower. I felt completely wrecked. At an emotional low, everything I tried took me 3-4 times as long as normal. Moving through life at half speed, I was really not myself. This was 3 weeks ago. I expected at least a few days of soreness, but weeks later the pain persisted. I hate popping pills, but I was taking BOTH Tylenol and ibuprofen every morning just to get through the day. Yikes! The Line Between Physical Healing and Spiritual Healing You might be wondering: If I’m an energy healer, why didn’t I just “fix” myself? Here’s the truth: physical injuries need physical time to heal. Muscles, ligaments, bones—they don't heal in an instant. The physical body is relatively fragile, and needs care to keep it in working order. That said, it is truly remarkable in its ability to heal. I’ve always said that if broken bones are able to knit themselves together in 6 weeks, there is really nothing in the body that should take over 3 months to heal. But when pain lingers beyond the normal healing window, it’s often tied to something deeper: an emotional or spiritual block. So, if healing doesn’t happen in that time, one should then look to a spiritual cause either preventing healing from taking place, or more often, preventing the pain from going away, even through the body itself may already be healed sufficiently to be pain free. When my pain stayed intense after two weeks, I knew there was more to it than just overworked muscles. The Subconscious Connection: Feeling “Old” Working with the subconscious means everything is symbolic. In my case, the pain and fatigue I was feeling was accompanied by a single thought: “I feel old.” That thought immediately made me think of my mother, who recently turned 93! She had just broken her calf while traveling—right in the middle of my move! While I took out time to help prepare her house so she could recover at home, with everything else going on, I felt guilty that I wasn’t doing more. Like I'm a bad daughter for prioritizing my own life ahead of my mother's. And my own pain was only exacerbating my inability to do anything about it. Healing With ART (Accelerated Release Technique) Once I recognized the feelings at the root of my issue, I used my own Accelerated Release Technique (ART) to release the guilt and shame that I had been carrying. While there was a little more to it, after about an hour of ART, the mental fatigue disappeared completely and my physical pain drastically improved. Thank heavens! While my wrist is still tender, that's on me. There has still been lifting and schlepping stuff from my old home to my new one, and this past weekend was spent setting up my son’s new space for his next few years at university in Waterloo (hence more lifting and schlepping!) so I likely have a physical injury that hasn't been given a chance to heal. The rest of me, however, feels like my old - young - self! I can run up stairs, bend, and move freely once again without pain. Yay! Why This Matters for You Pain does not have to be part of aging. The subconscious mind holds powerful keys to healing emotional pain, physical discomfort, and spiritual blocks. Once you release the hidden beliefs and emotions weighing you down, your body and mind can return to their natural state: healthy, whole, and free. I believe it is everyone’s divine right to be healthy, happy, whole, and abundant. And with knowledge of ART, you can take your healing in your own hands. Ready to Assert YOUR Divine Right to Live Your Best Life? Registration for my next ART Masterclass is now open! Pay your $250 deposit to enroll by September 1st, 2025 (midnight EST) and get the two prerequisite courses FREE: How Heal From Your Past ($199 + HST) Connecting to Your Subconscious Without Hypnosis ($19.95 + HST) Spaces are limited—secure your spot today! Join with a friend and you’ll BOTH receive $150 off the Masterclass. 👉 👉👉 Click here to register for the Masterclass 👈👈👈 Have questions? Send me a message — I’d love to hear from you! I hope to see you in class!
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